A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organisations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates in prisons. In some countries, some other officials also wear uniforms in some of their duties; such is the case of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service or the French prefects.

Service and work uniforms

Workers sometimes wear uniforms or corporate clothing of one nature or another, including but not limited to shop workers, bank and post office workers, airline employees and holiday operators, and bar, restaurant and hotel employees. The use of uniforms by these organizations is often an effort in branding and developing a standard corporate image but also has important effects on the employees required to wear the uniform. The first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was the Playboy Bunny outfit (U.S. patent number 762,884). However the term 'uniform' is misleading because employees are not always fully uniform in appearance and may not always wear attire provided by the organization, while still representing the organization in their attire. Academic work on organizational dress by Rafaeli & Pratt (1993) referred to uniformity (homogeneity) of dress as one dimension, and conspicuousness as a second. Employees all wearing black, for example, may appear conspicuous and thus represent the organization even though their attire is uniform only in the color of their appearance not in its features. Pratt & Rafaeli, (1997)described struggles between employees and management about organizational dress as struggles about deeper meanings and identities that dress represents. And Prat & Rafaeli (2001) described dress as one of the larger set of symbols and artifacts in organizations which coalesce into a communication grammar.

Rafaeli, A. & Pratt, M. J. 1993. Tailored meaning: On the meaning and impact of organizational dress. Academy of Management Review, 18(1): 32-55.

Pratt, M. & Rafaeli, A. 1997. Organizational dress as a symbol of multilayered social identities. Academy of Management Journal, 40(4): 862-898.

Pratt, M. G. & Rafaeli, A. 2001. Symbols as a language of organizational relationships. Research in Organizational Behavior, 23: 93-133.

Schools

main: School uniform Across the world uniforms are worn in schools. School uniforms vary from a standard issue T-shirt to rigorous requirements for many items of formal wear at private schools.

Countries with school uniforms mandated include Japan, India, Australia and the UK, as well as many other places. In some countries uniform types vary a lot from school to school, but in the UK many pupils between 11 and 16 of age wear a formal jacket, tie and trousers for boys and blouse, tie and trousers or skirt or culottes for girls. The ties will usually be in a set pattern for the school & jackets will usually carry a patch on the breast pocket with the school's coat of arms and motto or emblem and name. Jackets are being replaced in many schools by sweatshirts bearing the school badge. Children in many UK state primary schools will have a uniform jumper and or polo shirt with the school name and logo.